The first time Merticus drank blood was in his mid-20s, in what he recalls was an intimate and private event in which he used a tortoise shell lancet to carefully cut his significant other’s skin.

His skin isn't pale. He does not have extended canines. He won't be living for centuries, and definitely does not sleep in a coffin. In fact, he is just a normal guy to many. An average 37-year-old who works in the antiques business, and is happily married living in Atlanta, USA, Merticus is just like you and me. Except that he drinks human blood. Does that make him a real-life vampire? Some would say yes.

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Since childhood, Merticus would always feel 'the hunger for energy'. It was this weird form of tiredness that food, and long hours of sleep just couldn't cure. Then came the 90s, when the internet happened. Merticus discovered that he wasn't the only one going through something of this sort. He got in touch with people who knew what he was lacking in life - blood.

The first taste of it would change Merticus' life for ever. After he started 'feeding', he no longer experienced the asthma that had tormented him since childhood. He just stopped contracting infections. In fact, his biggest health problem nowadays is an occasional sinus infections. Blood is the answer to all else.

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Experts think there are thousands of such 'vampires' around us. It's just that they are known as 'Sanguinarians' or Blood Drinkers. According to a study published in the journal Critical Social Work, most of them are just normal humans with day jobs and loving families who practice the ritual behind drawn curtains to avoid being ridiculed by society. According Joseph Laycock, Ph.D., an assistant professor of religious studies at the Texas State University, and author of Vampires Today: The Truth about Modern Vampires, they don't suck blood out of someone's neck to look cool. They believe their health depends on it. They feel vulnerable to symptoms like headaches, lethargy, pain, depression, and general weakness.

Doctors describe it as getting a full night of sleep after being deprived of it for over a week. That's what these Sanguinarians feel like after drinking blood. It just rejuvenates them. They say that they get a sense of heightened energy when they're around fresh blood, but that doesn't mean they go around walking in empty lanes, in the middle of the night, looking for a neck to sink their teeth into. None of that. These guys have willing donors, a close friend, someone from the family, or even a sexual partner. While some do bite for blood, most of them just use a small surgical knife to make a small cut between a donor's shoulder blades to consume a tablespoon of blood.

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Even though blood is rich in iron and a lack of it might make you lethargic, a table spoon of it might not help at all. There is also the risk of contracting diseases like HIV and hepatitis. However, many of these Blood Drinkersask their donors to test for pathogens and parasites before drinking their blood.

So does it mean that the behaviour of these Sanguinarians are nothing but psychological? The feeling of doing something forbidden does give us the occasional adrenaline rush, doesn't it?